Method of laying submarine power and other electric cables.



A. J. PAHL. METHOD OF LAYING SUBMARINE POWER AND'OTHEB. ELECTRIC GABLES.

APPLIGATION'IILED 3128129, 1913.

7 1,060,785. Y Patented May 6,1913.

A TTOR/VEY AUGUST JULIUS PAHL, OF ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD OF LAYING SUBMARINE POWER AND OTHER ELECTRIC CABLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 1913.

Application filed January 29, 1913. Serial No. 744,906.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, AUoUsT JULIUs PAHL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alameda, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Laying Submarine Power and other Electric Cables, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of laying electric cables under water, and it consists in the novel method which I shall now fully describe.

In a predetermined course, a steel messenger cable is first laid in the ordinary manner of paying it off from a reel on a barge. In order to perfect. the'lay of the messenger cable, both for exactness of position, and for the required amount of slack, said cable after being initially laid is then underrun by the barge and pulled to exact position and slack taken up or put. into get the proper tension on said cable so that it will subsequently, when the power cable is be ing served or wired to it, pay off the barge at the proper angle. This preliminary under-running of the messenger cable may be done once or more times as'niay be found expedient and necessary. WVhen the messenger cable is thus laid and fully adjusted,

- it'is again under-run by the barge, whose direction is thus accurately defined and whose progress may be controlled by a gripping and releasing action; and during this last under-running the power cable which is on the barge is reeled off and served,

that is, wired, to the messenger cable, and the two thus connected pay out over the stern of the barge, the serving and paying out going on continuously over the course, except where stops are made for tests, examinations, more careful or elaborate serving, splicing or jointing of the power cable, and for any other purposes."

As additional aid to the full understand ing of the method, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which Fi ure l is a View of a section of a waterbody, showing the messenger-cable, the barge under-running said cable, the control ling grip, the power-cable reels, the power cable, the service of the two cables and their joint payingout over the stern. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing a continuous or extended wiring or serving of the power cable to the messenger-cable. Fig.

reel is, in practice,

3 is a similar view showing separated serv-- ice with intervenlng sagging portions of the.

power cable.

In Fig. 1 1 is a water-body in which the messenger cable 2 has been laid in a predetermined course. that the messenger cable has been already under-run by the barge, pulled to position and such slack taken from it or put into it as will give it the required tension in paying out when the power cable is served to it.

3 is a barge. It may travel under its own power or it may be towed. The barge is fitted at'each end with guides at and sheavewheels 5, and said barge under-runs the messenger cable 2, as shown, said cablepassing up over the guide and wheel at one end, extending the length of the barge and paying out again over the wheel and guide at the stern. j

6 is a grip on the barge, engaging the messenger cable. This grip may be of any suitablecharacter. I have found in practice that acable-railway grip serves the purpose excellently. On the barge is a reel 7 carrying the power cable8. This the ordinary comparatively small factory-reel with its original cable burden. The advantage of this I shall presently mention, but in this connection I may here point out that I have on It may be assumed the barge a number of these factory reels each with its original cable. For the. sake of illustration, therefore, I show a second reel 9. lVhen the power cable from the first reel 7 is near its end, the cable from the reel 9 is properly. joined to the end of the first cable and vthe operation ,of laying pro-' ceeds. Thus also with the power cables of athird and of succeeding reels.

10 indicates a wire coil the wire from which is used to serve or tie thepower cable 8 t the messenger cable 2, as shown at ll. and the two cables .thus united pay out over the stern of the barge. The grip 6 enables the barge to stop at any place desired. The barge starts from one shore end and the power cable is served to the messenger cable just before it goes over the stern sheave. The tension on the pow-er cable can be adjusted at will by allowing .it to hang in sections of any length as shown in Fig. 3; In this way much or little slack can be put in the power cable depending on the condition of the marine bottom at the point of laying. In some places it may be necesif-the power cable is laid tight and spans and other; electric cables which consists in' I the power cable is only handled once, that heavy sary to allow quite a section of power cable of support, which strain is likely to happen deepdepressions in the bottom.

; At points where the power cable is likely to be picked upby the anchors of vessels,

saidoable is served tightly continuously to the messenger cable, as shown in Fig. 2-. So, too, at the joints of thepower cable, the

service is tight on both sides, to prevent strain on-said joints. The strainis thus put on the messenger cable so that there is no possibility of straining the power cable at the joints and cause a break in the lead sheath; as frequently happens.

In case of bad weather the end of one reel of power cable can be fastened to the mes senger cable and let down to the bottom;

whereupon the barge can continue to the shore to await better weather. Then by under-runnmg the messenger cable, this end tinued when weather conditions permit.

This prevents damage to the cable in bad weather.

Another advantage of my method is that is fromthe original'factory reels directto the water. This is avery decidedadvanta e in thatreeling up a great weight of ca le on a'large reel causes strain to. be put on the cable due to the weight of theehtire ported on the inner turns.

cable being so There is also t e tendency for thecable on a large reel to travel relative to'the reel due to its-slight difference in diameter between the inner turns and the reel. This becomes a serious problem when several miles of cable is laid and it may be suflicient to cause damage to parts of th cable. Another advantage of my method is the maintaining of an absolute course. This is quite an item, as the saving of power cable, due

to the course being maintained, may amount to considerable. Another advantage is the absolute control which can be kept over the equipment. Thepower cable can be paid off loose or tight and can be stopped at any position for inspection and test. It can be let off a few inches at a time, and any bad places can easily be detected. In my method the power cable being of comparatively short rings on a ba'rgeis not feasible.-

foreasy and' frequent tests, for-as each reel is laid ltcan be tested. The testing of long power cables while being laid. is impractical as handling of high voltage through slip I cla m:- 1. The method of laying submarine power laying in a predetermined course a "messenger cable; under-runn1ng said messenger cable with a barge; and during said underrunmng serving the power cable to the messenger cable and paying the connected cables out over the stern of the barge.-

2. The method of laying submarine power and other electric cables which consists in laying in 'a'predetermined course-a messenger cable; under-running said messenger cable with a barge; controllably connecting said barge with the messenger cable; and during said under running servin the power cable 'to the messenger cable an paying the connectedcables out over the stern of the barge. i

'3. The method of laying submarine power and other electric cables which consists in laying in 'a predetermined coursea messeng'er cable; under running said messenger cable with a barge and accurately adjusting the position and slack of said cable during said under-running; again under-running said messen' er cable with said barge; and during said ast. named under-running serving the power cable to the messenger cable and paying the connected cables out over the stern of the barge.

4,. The method of laying submarine power and other electric cables which consists in laying in a predeterminedpourse a messenger cable; underrunning said messengercable with a bargeand accurately adjusting the posi-tion'and slack of said cable during said under-running again under-runnin said messenger cablewith said barge, an

controllab'ly connecting the barge with the cable; and during said last named underrunning serving t e power cable to the messengerf eableand payi the connected cables out over fihe stern o the barge. j

. In testimony whereof I'have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing'witnesses. AUGUST JULIUS PAHL.

Witnesses:

WM. F. BOOTH,

D. Riomumsg Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ot 'latentl. i

length on the'small factory reels', provides 

